Bluegrassrivals

In a great game that was all it was billed to be, Eastern came out on top. It was a very physical game because the officials really let them play.

The Eastern student section managed to delay the game for a good 20 minutes due to some pregame shenanigans involving a "Lebron like" baby powder throw that covered the court , making it a little slick.

Once the game resumed, Ballard shot the ball well in the first half and were up 36-34 at the half thanks to a Keisten Jones in bounds play tip in with 0.9 on the clock. Eastern came out fired up in the 3rd quarter and really intensified on defense and pulled out to a small led and led for the rest of the game.

My impressions of Ballard were that they have a lot of talent that is wasted as it seems they rarely run set plays and seem to clear out and play "streetball" alot. Don't get me wrong, they are Top 20 in the state on talent alone and are a very dangerous team. Wesley Cox is good, but he takes a lot of shots. I like Keisten Jones the most on the team to be honest. The 2nd Eastern-Ballard matchup and the regional tournament will be just as intense.

Eastern seemed a little lazy on defense in the first half but Coach Couch took care of that. They shot the ball acceptably and did a decent job rebounding, most notably Jon Davis and Delquan Thomas. Its a good thing for Thomas, as he struggled with the pressure for most of the game, yet still got to the line for his points and had a few nice assists. Chris Dowe had another great game, as did Remy Abell and Lyonell Gaines. Dowe had 16 points and Delquan Thomas added 15 points, 12 rebounds and five assists. Remy Abell and Lyonell Gaines both had 13 points.

Keisten Jones had 20 points and seven rebounds.

They look good heading into J'Town on Fri and I like the matchup as J'Town plays almost the exact style of Ballard.

Congrats Eagles...14-0

Eastern continues to win and impress.

Congrats Eastern! I think they have a good chance to win on Friday against Jeffersontown!

FBALL Wrote:Eastern continues to win and impress.

I agree.

Eastern IMO, is one of the most underrated teams in the state. Hopefully they'll knock of J'town here in a few days.

Congrats Eagles!

Eastern is really playing great Basketball and it appears they are deserving of their high ranking.

Ballard 18 16 14 11 59

Eastern 16 16 19 15 66

Ballard (9-4) -- Cox 13, Chiles 13, Dow 5, Perkins 7, Jones 18, Means 3.
Eastern (14-0) -- Dowe 16, Marks 4, Gaines 13, Millner 4, Abell 13, Thomas 15.

Nice write up from the Courier-Journal....

Getting down to business

EasternAlum Wrote:My impressions of Ballard were that they have a lot of talent that is wasted as it seems they rarely run set plays and seem to clear out and play "streetball" alot.

Ballard plays a very up tempo style of play that, like you said, does not utilize a lot of set plays. To an untrained eye its helter skelter, but I wouldn't call it "streetball". Renner has been very very successful with this style of play. He has a state championship and a runner-up using this style of play. As a matter of fact it seems since 98 the majority of the top programs in Kentucky utilize this style of play. Ballard, Scott County, and Holmes come to mind. If this is street ball maybe more of the lesser successfull coaches should utilize it.

Don't get me wrong. There is nothing wrong with walking the ball up the floor, playing a 2-3 zone, running set plays untill you get a great shot, and beating people 46-42. Its just not my cup of tea. Covington Catholic and Graves County have had some success with the slower paced game through the years.

rojas Wrote:Ballard plays a very up tempo style of play that, like you said, does not utilize a lot of set plays. To an untrained eye its helter skelter, but I wouldn't call it "streetball". Renner has been very very successful with this style of play. He has a state championship and a runner-up using this style of play. As a matter of fact it seems since 98 the majority of the top programs in Kentucky utilize this style of play. Ballard, Scott County, and Holmes come to mind. If this is streetball maybe more of the lesser successfull coaches should utilize it.

Don't get me wrong. There is nothing wrong with walking the ball up the floor, playing a 2-3 zone, running set plays untill you get a great shot, and beating people 46-42. Its just not my cup of tea. Covington Catholic and Graves County have had some success with the slower paced game through the years.

Maybe what I meant wasn't clear, I wasn't (exactly) picking on Renner. I was just saying that with the talent that he has at Ballard (much like the level of talent at Scott Co. and Holmes) that he can get away with that style, but under the direction of a different coach that talent could be utilized to a greater extent. The key to my argument is the level of talent not being used to its full extent.

Eastern and Male both run a fast paced offense and yet they still run a good amount of plays, and they don't have "46-42" final scores. Key difference....coaching.

Point well taken. However, you can't argue with success. With the exception of Hicks at Scott County Renner has had more success than any coach in the state since becoming coach at Ballard. Granted he has had the talent, but not many can match his numbers.